


Universal Gravity

by undertalefa



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Dipper and Mabel are 15, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Episode: s02e20 Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls, Post-Episode: s06e20 The Future, There will be angst!, but eventually friendship :), summer job AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24135475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undertalefa/pseuds/undertalefa
Summary: It's Dipper and Mabel's fourth summer in Gravity Falls, and like always, there's adventure afoot! Mystery! Exploration! Adventure! It's shaping up to be another amazing summer vacation! The only downside is that Wendy's heading off to college out of state, leaving her job position at the Mystery Shack empty near the end of summer.Enter Steven Universe: Nearing the end of his road trip and fresh off a mental breakdown, he heads into Gravity Falls, Oregon. There, he will find something he never expected in the boring state- something... not boring!(It seems Steven is destined to attract trouble.)
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines & Steven Universe, Mabel Pines & Steven Universe
Comments: 135
Kudos: 601





	1. Power Outage

**Author's Note:**

> yes, i am jumping aboard the suxgf crossover train. sue me. i love this freakin idea
> 
> feedback means a lot to me, so comments and kudos are so, so, so appreciated :) hope everyone enjoys!

It’s a rainy day when Steven stumbles across the sleepy town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. The Dondai is almost out of gas, and it’s nearing nighttime, so he decides to stop at a nearby gas station. Unfortunately, there’s no service this deep out in the woods, so he can’t just check Boogle Maps for any stations nearby.

Steven sighs and slows his car down as he tries to navigate the twisting road, not wanting to skid on the forming puddles. The trip has been nice so far. He’s visited so many places- places on  _ earth-  _ that are so amazing and exciting and  _ different _ from Beach City. It’s a welcome change. He does miss Connie, but she always meets up with him every few weeks or so. 

Oregon has been, well… boring, so far. The sights are certainly something- looming pines and enormous mountains as far as the eye can see- but the actual entertainment value of the state has been lacking. To be fair, he’s only been here for a few days, but nothing much happened except for a quick rest at a motel and few trips to pick up some groceries. 

The once light rain seems to be growing into a thunderstorm, and Steven starts to get a bit nervous. He passed a sign for Gravity Falls a little ways back, but he can’t find any indication of a town. Perhaps it’s too dark? The sky is overcome with gray clouds and the rain is making it hard to see clearly. Steven really hopes he’s able to find some place where he can ask for directions, at the very least.

Finally, he stumbles across a sign of life: a water tower, standing tall even against the towering trees. There seems to be some sort of muffin like thing painted on the side of it? Maybe he just can’t fully make the picture out. In any case, it’s a good sign. Well, as good a sign as any for being lost in the middle of the woods in Oregon, with no cell service.

Connie would probably chastise him for not being prepared at all. Hey, he  _ did _ plan out the majority of the trip down to the tiniest details, but it wasn’t like a simple online search can give you all the sketchy motels in any given area. Oregon was one of his dead spots where Steven essentially had no plans whatsoever. It’s one of the last states he’s planning to visit, anyway, so it’s not like he really has any commitments to go anywhere else. He can spend as much time here as he wants, and if a lot of that time is taken up by being lost in the middle of nowhere, so be it!

He really hopes he doesn’t  _ actually _ get lost, though. The forest is starting to get creepy.

-

Mabel and Dipper sit up in their room in the Mystery Shack, both lying on their respective beds. 

“Man, I can’t believe it’s already our fourth summer here.” Dipper says suddenly, breaking the short silence between the pair. 

Mabel enthusiastically sits up and looks at her brother. “I’m just glad Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford are coming back for the summer again. I can’t wait to show them my braceless face!” To emphasize her point, she gives Dipper a large smile, revealing straight, white teeth.

“Didn’t you already send them like, a million pictures?”

Mabel pouts playfully. “Yeah, but it’s totally different in person!”

“Whatever you say…” Dipper replies.

Every summer in Gravity Falls is entertaining, though none quite eventful as the first, thankfully. There’s still tons of creatures and stuff to explore. Despite the “Nevermind All That” Act, the Mystery Shack still remains a popular attraction with its cheap thrills. People seem to like the weird, so long as it’s not harmful. Go figure.

Dipper’s taken to recording his own journal. It’s certainly not up to the quality and thoroughness of Ford’s- with the subpar drawings and abundance of glitter courtesy of Mabel- but it’s his own. Grunkle Ford just seemed happy he started discovering new things and sort of living out his legacy. 

This summer’s bound to be an interesting one. Dipper figures that’s kind of the case with every summer spent here, but call it… a gut feeling. Plus, Wendy and all the older kids are going to be heading off to college later in the summer. A lot of them are moving out of state, and have to leave earlier. Hopefully Mabel and him will find something to occupy their time, since it seems like a large portion of their friend group will be leaving before they do.

“Whadya wanna do this summer?” Mabel asks eventually, and Dipper looks up from a book he almost was able to finish on the bus ride here. 

“I mean, what we always do, right? Exploring? Adventuring?” He responds.

“Yeah, dummy, but like, what do you think we’ll find?! I wanna go back and punch more unicorns in the face!” Mabel says a bit too enthusiastically. 

“Woah, calm it with the teenage aggression, Mabel. You don’t wanna end up like Robbie.”

Although it’s true Robbie had calmed down a bit since the first summer spent here, he still was the definition of “angsty teen.” Wendy and him never got back together, though, since they just didn’t work as a couple. Younger, immature Dipper would be all over that, but he now prides himself on being completely and totally over Wendy. (It helps that Pacifica and him have started hanging out more.)

“NEVER!!!” Mabel screams, and hits Dipper with a pillow. He manages to fold the page in his book before it’s knocked out of his hands.

“Oh, you started it…” He says, stealthily grabbing his own weapon. “ATTACK!” Dipper shouts, and comes down at Mabel with the lumpy pillow he brought on the bus.

-

Okay, Steven’s starting to get a bit worried now. Just because he promised to call the gems tonight, and he’s definitely not going to be able to do that if his current situation continues. The situation being having no service and being lost in the dark woods while it rains heavily. Yay.

He figures he probably took a sort of back road accidently. That, or Gravity Falls just doesn't exist at all, and some cruel forest-dweller made it up. Hopefully that’s not the case. (It would be embarrassing. He can see the headlines now: “Savior of the universe goes missing in the boring state of Oregon because he followed a random sign to a town he’s never heard of.” Okay, maybe that’s a bit long for a headline, but still.)

It’s a huge relief when he sees some lights up ahead. They’re hard to make out, even though his wipers are set at the maximum speed, but they’re visible. And that means there’s something in front of him. At this point, that’s all Steven needs. He’s tempted to speed up, but that would be unsafe, and getting into another car accident isn’t really something he intends to do right now. Or ever.

Eventually, he spies a building in the darkness where the lights are beaming from. It’s a fairly big house-looking thing, with a kind of elaborateness that reminds him of the current state of the temple. There’s a very long roof with some sort of lettering on it, but Steven can’t quite make it out. As he pulls closer, he sees that it reads “MYSTERY HACK,” with the spot before the ‘H’ paled and imprinted with the shape of an ‘S.’ The lettering must’ve fallen off. Sooo… Mystery Shack? Sounds like some tourist trap place, and he’s always a sucker for those. Steven had to stop going to every one he saw on his trip (since he saw a  _ lot _ ), but he did get to go to a bunch of cool ones. Like Upside-Down Town! 

He quickly pulls over a little ways away from the building and checks his phone. It’s about 10:30 pm, although the sky’s darkness makes it impossible to tell. It’s pretty late, and the Mystery Shack place probably won’t be open, judging by normal attraction hours. Steven’s only hope is that some poor worker or security guard is stuck there, and that he’ll be able to ask them directions to the nearest place to stay the night. 

Steven shifts his car into drive, and carefully makes his way up the rocky dirt road to the spot that looks like a parking lot. It’s not clearly marked, and even if it were, it would be hard to see right now. Grabbing his phone and pulling his jacket closed, he quickly pushes open the car door and runs to the porch under the canopy. The lights are on in the building, which makes sense since that  _ is _ what got his attention in the first place. Steven can only wish that it’s not because the owner is very energy-unfriendly, but because there’s somebody inside. He searches for a doorbell, and not finding one, he knocks. Hopefully, anyone who could be inside would hear the banging sound over the harsh rain.

There’s no response at first, but he doesn’t feel like stepping out into the rain again to look through a window on the side of the Mystery Shack. Instead, he decides to wait, which is rewarded when he hears some movement inside the building. 

“Be there in a sec, dude!” Comes a male voice from inside the house.

Whoever it is sounds friendly enough, so that’s a good sign. It would be even better if the janitor or nightshift worker inside is a local that can tell him where a nearby motel would be.

The door opens, and a pear-shaped man peeks out. He’s wearing a shirt with a question mark on it (Mystery Shack? That  _ would _ make sense), and pajama bottoms. 

“Uh, who’re you?” The mystery man asks.

Introducing himself is something Steven didn’t know he was bad at until he had to do it all the time. He was used to people knowing his name at this point- probably having something to do with “Steven Universe” being broadcasted all over the universe. He’s gotten better at it over the course of his trip (along with social interactions with humans), but, well. He still kind of sucks.

“A-are you open?”

Great. Fantastic. This man asked for his name, and they are clearly  _ not  _ open. 

“Uh, no dude. You’re not from around here, are you?”

Steven shivers a bit in the cold rain. “No, um, n-no I’m not. I was wondering if you knew any p-place to stay?” He holds out his hand, which is shaking slightly. “I’m Steven, by the way.”

“Soos.” He returns Steven’s handshake. “Why don’t you come on in and get out of the rain?” Soos beckons him into the building with a wave of a hand.

-

“Dipper… look!” Mabel shout-whispers, pointing out the window in their loft. “There’s a car!”

The boy doesn’t even glance up from his book. Hey, he just got tackled and hit with pillows for a while, so now he gets to relax. “Mhm. Cool.”

“Dipper…” Mabel whines, drawing out his name to get his attention. 

He looks up. “ _ Yes _ , Mabel?” 

“There’s a car!” She responds, pointing again.

“...And?”

“And it’s like, eleven! I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, dummy, but the Mystery Shack isn’t open at eleven.”

He rolls his eyes while Mabel stares out the window. “That’s true.” Dipper responds, and goes back to his book.

Mabel has other plans, he comes to realize, when she jumps onto his bed and smacks the book out of his hands. “Aw, Mabel, I don’t know what page I’m on!”

“Dipper.” Mabel starts seriously, staring her brother right in the eyes, “There’s a random car parked outside in the middle of the night when we definitely  _ aren’t  _ expecting visitors, and it’s totally storming out. Do you know what this means?”

“Uhh…” Dipper pretends to think for a moment. “Some poor lost tourist got stuck out in the storm and is probably asking for directions?”

Mabel throws her hands up in exasperation. “Ugh, no Dipper, it means…” She trails off to drumroll her fists against the wall. “MYSTERY! EXPLORATION! ADVENTURE!”

Dipper gives in and laughs at his sister’s enthusiasm. “Have I ever told you you’d be a great salesperson?” He asks.

“You have and I know.” Mabel replies confidently, posing dramatically with her hands on her hips.

Suddenly, the lights flicker and go out, leaving them both in darkness. “Well that’s good timing.”

Mabel bumps into Dipper as she stumbles around the room blindly. “This is perfect!”

The boy blinks as he tries to adjust his eyes to the sudden darkness. “Uh, why?”

“Because we can go downstairs and ask Soos for candles! And you know who’s going to be there?”

“The guy from the car?” Dipper rhetorically asks.

Mabel agrees, with much more enthusiasm. “The guy in the car!”

Dipper finds Mabel in the black and grabs onto her hand. She’s still fumbling around, but Dipper can just make out the outline of the door. He pulls her towards it. “You know, we probably could have gone down anyway, right? It’s not like Soos is going to set a curfew for us.”   
  
He can’t see it, but Dipper knows Mabel pouts. “Pshh, you’re no fun.”

“Fine, fine, but help me get down the stairs. I don’t want to fall.”

“As I said: no fun.”

She helps him anyway, and they both slowly make their way into the living room, cutting through the pitch blackness. There’s a light emanating from the gift shop, and Dipper figures Soos must’ve already pulled the candles out. From somewhere. He nor Mabel have no clue where he keeps his stuff, but Soos always has his gear in very accessible places.

It’s easier to navigate the shack with a goal, so it’s not long before they both are standing in the giftshop area. Soos is there, as expected, but there’s also someone else. 

“Oh, hey mystery twins!” Soos greets, turning his attention away from the mysterious figure. “Power went out, huh?”

The person standing just a little bit away from Soos speaks. “Yeah, someone must have messed with some powerful tech to knock out the power for this whole place.”

Dipper is the first twin to speak in the presence of the stranger. “That’s an... interesting way of putting it.”

Mabel also pipes up. “Yeah! I would’ve just assumed the storm knocked out the power. There must be a conspiracy afoot!” She winks at the man, who definitely cannot see the action, “I like the way you think.”

Dipper’s not sure, but it looks like the stranger blushes at their words. “I, uh, I mean. Yeah. The  _ storm _ must have made the power go out. That… makes sense?” The man says the last part as a question, though framing it like a statement.

Soos turns back to the man, as if they had already been having a conversation before the power went out. “Dude, I don’t think you should go back out there. It must be bad if the power’s gone out.” He turns and grabs a match to light another candle on the counter with the cash register. “Why don’t you stay here for the night? We’re supposed to have guests coming tomorrow, so you have to be out of the room by two, but it shouldn’t be a problem!”

The man immediately seems hesitant at the offer. “I couldn’t possibly intrude like that!” He says, “There has to be some sort of inn nearby that I could stay at, right? I don’t want to bother you.”

Soos waves his hands in a ‘don’t worry about it’ gesture. “No worries, dude. I won’t even charge ya.” He turns to look at Dipper and Mabel. “Maybe don’t tell Stan about that, though, ha ha. Wouldn’t want him knowing I gave out free room.”

The stranger still looks unsure. “Really, if this will upset your next guests, I don’t have to.”

Mabel chimes in. “Don’t worry about Grunkle Stan! He’s just the ol’ cheapskate who used to run this place!”

Dipper gasps, sarcastically appalled. “Mabel! How dare you speak about our own Grunkle like that?” He turns away from his sister and crosses his arms. There’s a beat, then they both break out in laughter.

The man seems to mutter “Grunkle?” under his breath, but doesn’t comment further on it. He does, however, smile kind of sadly at the twins’ joking around. “Well, if you’re sure…”

Dipper thinks the man is the only one who’s not ‘sure’ in the situation, but he figures that’s pretty fair. It’s not like the Mystery Shack with its crumbling walls and random glued-together creatures is the most appealing place to spend the night. Hell, he would be hesitant too!

“I have to insist on giving you  _ something _ , though.” The stranger offers, taking out his wallet, which- oh man. Even in the dark, Dipper and Mabel can make out that this guy is  _ loaded _ . The wallet’s practically bursting at the seams.

“Here.” He pulls out what looks to be a hundred dollar bill, and slides it onto the counter next to Soos. 

Dipper whispers, “Grunkle Stan would like him.” to Mabel, and she nods her head in silent agreement, too focused on the money almost falling off the guy. 

Even Soos is taken aback. “I mean, seriously, Steven, you don’t have to.”

Steven (That’s his name!) shakes his head. “No, really! I insist.” He mutters the next part quietly and more to himself, “I would feel really guilty if I didn’t.”

“You guys okay with showing Steven the room?” Soos asks, and Dipper nods his head.

Mabel salutes Soos. “Yes sir!” She states confidently, then turns to Dipper. “We  _ are _ bringing him to Grunkle Stan’s old room, right?”

Dipper sighs. “Yes, Mabel.” He playfully punches her in the arm.

“No fair! I couldn’t see that coming!”

“Oh my god Mabel! Are you hurt?” Dipper asks facetiously. 

The two bicker jokingly back and forth for a minute or two more while Soos and the stranger - Steven- continue talking. 

“I’m going to see if I can get the generator running, so these guys’ll take you to where you can stay tonight. Let me know if you need anything though, Steven.” Soos says.

“Thank you again. And, uh, I hope it isn’t rude to ask, but are you guys related? I thought this was some tourist trap place, I didn’t think it was also a house.”

Soos shakes his head. “No, dude, no worries. We aren’t related. Well, those two are.” He points at Dipper and Mabel, who are still babbling. “Twins.”

“Oh, yeah! I heard you call them ‘mystery twins’ before.” Steven gives a small laugh. “Well, I’ll leave you be, if they’re ready, of course.”

Dipper catches the last part of the man’s sentence. “Mabel, let’s show Steven his room.”

“Aw yeah!” She responds, “You’re going to love it here! Nothing creepy going on ever, so there’s totally nothing to worry about.”

Dipper’s not sure, but he thinks Steven’s face pales slightly. “That’s reassuring.” He walks over to where the twins are- the doorway leading into the living room. 

The man- well he’s not really a man. Dipper and Mabel both notice the distinctly  _ young  _ features present on Steven’s face as he comes closer. He looks to be almost their age. Maybe younger, even. So,  _ the teenager _ (?) looks a bit nervous as he begins to follow them out of the giftshop. Well, not nervous, but… something hesitant. Dipper can’t quite put a name to it.

Mabel decides to make small talk in order to learn about Steven. “So, Steven.” She starts, as they approach the stairs. “Where are you from?”

He seems to contemplate something. “I’m from Delmarva State. I used to live in a beach town.”

“Delmarva…” Dipper mutters, “Isn’t that like, on the completely different side of the country?”

“Well, I’m on a sort of road trip.” Steven sheepishly explains, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket. “I… I- nevermind.”

There’s something he’s not telling, but hey. Not everything is a mystery waiting to be solved, Dipper realizes. Maybe this kid just wanted to get away.

Mabel seems to have the opposite thought, as she keeps interrogating Steven. “You look pretty young to be on your own. I wish my parents would let me go around the world by myself!” Dipper shoots her a look. “With Dipper, of course.”

Steven responds like he’s heard this a lot. “Yeah, I’m seventeen. My dad’s always been pretty lenient on what I want to do, but I do have some rules. Like I have to call- Oh shoot!” The boy searches his pockets for something, and pulls out a phone. “I promised I’d call my family tonight! But…” He checks the screen for something. “There’s still no service. And you won’t have wifi ‘cause the power is out.” He sighs and slumps his shoulders as they reach the top of the stairs. 

“Hey, don’t worry man, Soos said he’d try and get the generator on, right? He’s pretty good with that stuff.” 

“Yeah, Steven, don’t worry!” Mabel adds.

“I know, I just…” The teenager looks like he’s about to cry, but then takes a few deep breaths. “No, you’re right, it’s fine.” He shakes his head, then turns to face the twins as they reach the spot where he’ll be sleeping. “This is the room?”

“Yup! Casa de Stan! We hope you enjoy your stay!” Mabel bows dramatically. 

Steven turns the knob and opens the door, but looks back at Dipper and Mabel. “I wanted to thank you guys for letting me stay. I’m sorry to have bothered you this late at night.”

“It’s no problem.” They reply in unison.

“I, uh, don’t think I officially introduced myself to you. I’m Steven.” He holds out a hand to Dipper, and then to Mabel.

“I’m Dipper, and this is Mabel.” Dipper says, pointing to his sister.

“We’re fifteen!” Mabel adds.

“Oh, cool.” The boy looks a bit uncomfortable, and he rubs the back of his neck. He steps into the room. “If you’re sure this is okay-”

The brother-sister duo cuts him off. “Yes.”

“Then, I’ll… um. Goodnight! Thank you!” Steven says sincerely, gently closing the door.

As the twins begin walking back downstairs to help Soos, they turn to each other. “He’s pretty cool, right?” Mabel says.

“I don’t know Mabel, he seems a little weird.”

“We’re in Gravity Falls, Dipper. Everyone here is ‘a little weird.’ Besides! He seemed really nice.”

“You better not have fallen in love with him.” 

Mabel gasps. “How dare you! You of all people should know my days of hopelessly pining over boys are long past!” She takes a moment, but then says quietly. “He  _ is _ pretty cute though.”

“Mabel!”

Mabel waves her hands. “Fine, fine. I do hope we get to see him in the morning though. With the power. I have a good feeling about him.” 

“You have a good feeling about everyone, ever.” Dipper retorts.

“But I just  _ really _ felt this one, Dipper!” She laughs, “He seems like someone with cool stories!”

“I swear Mabel,” Dipper starts, “You’re totally projecting what you want him to be like.”

“Am not!” Mabel says defensively.

They reach the bottom floor once more and head into the giftshop. “You’re right though.” Dipper begins, and Mabel interrupts him. 

“About what? ‘Cause I’m right about a lot of things.”

Dipper groans and says, “You know what I’m talking about, Mabel. There  _ is  _ something about him.”

They both catch sight of Soos digging through supplies and tinkering with what looks to be the generator. Hopefully they’ll be able to get the power back on tonight, so Steven can call his family. 

“He seems really interesting.” Dipper continues, speaking softly so that only Mabel can hear him. “I want to know more about him.”


	2. Goodbye (for Now)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh oh my god the amount of support everyone's given this fic so far... it's amazing! thank you all so much! i'm really happy everyone liked the first chapter :)
> 
> so here's the next part. i promise we'll get into shenanigans (and angst) shortly, but there's still a bit of setting up to do. we're almost there, though!
> 
> as always, kudos and comments are very much appreciated! and thank you again for all your kind words and support already! hope you enjoy!

Steven ended up being able to call the gems, thankfully. Apparently Soos got the generator working, because only a short while after he settled in, the power came back on. It must’ve been only a half an hour, tops. He would have gone down and said thank you to Soos and the twins again, but figured he’s said enough “thank yous” for the moment being. Also, he’s filled his quota today for human interaction. Also also, it’s late and Steven really just wanted to call his family and go to bed. He had a long day driving and being lost, so he thinks he deserves that.

Everyone’s excited to see him, unsurprisingly. As soon as the camera on his phone flashes on, there’s a sudden explosion of “Hi, Steven!” and similar variations of the phrase. Garnet, Amethyst, and his dad are there, along with Peridot and Lapis, who are struggling to fit in frame. They tell him Bismuth and Pearl are “out together,” and Steven’s pretty sure he knows what  _ that _ means. After Lars and Saddie, though, he’s not quite sure he wants to be meddling in relationships. Besides, Pearl’s completely capable of deciding things for herself. Like whether she should date Bismuth. 

(But for real, though. Ten out of ten couple. OTP. Steven never would’ve seen them together, but now that they are, it makes so much sense.)

“So, where are you dude?” Amethyst asks, “You look like you broke into someone’s house!”

Steven glances at the room he’s sitting in, really looking at it for the first time. Right now he’s on the floor next to the bed, since that’s where an outlet is (and his phone was very close to being dead after driving around for so long). There’s a nightstand against the wall, with a copper-colored lamp, and a dresser covered in various photos of the presumed resident of the room and the twins he met. There’s knickknacks scattered about as well. (He tries not to dwell on it, but it reminds him a lot of his grandparents’ place.)

So in other words, yes, it  _ does _ look like he broke into someone’s house. 

He explains to Amethyst and the others that is very much not the case. 

“...So yeah, I ended up here for the night. It isn’t too bad, now that the power’s back on.” Steven swipes up on his phone quickly to check the time. “Oh man! It’s getting late. I should probably get to sleep.”

Peridot whines. “Nooooo, Steven! Stay! We miss you!”

Steven sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Peridot.”

Garnet thankfully helps him out. “It’s important that Steven gets his sleep. He needs to be well rested.”

Peridot huffs but accepts the undeniable logic. “Fine, fine. But I’m calling you tomorrow. I need to rant about the Camp Pining Hearts reboot to you because  _ someone _ -” She pointedly looks at Lapis, “-doesn’t like me, quote ‘whining’ unquote, about it. Apparently I should ‘get over it already.’” Peridot finishes, making finger quotes. Lapis just rolls her eyes.

“That sounds good Peridot! Just make sure you call before two or after three; I’m supposed to meet with my therapist tomorrow.” Steven replies, smiling slightly at the two gems’ banter.

“Affirmative! Goodnight Steven!” Peridot reaches over to hit the end call button on the phone, leaving Steven with a final frame of everyone looking at Peridot, with a few attempted “goodnights” being cut off. 

Steven chuckles to himself at the gems’ antics. He really, really misses all of them. But he’s been having a really, really good time on this trip as well. It’s bittersweet in a way, but he knows it’s for the best. A little time away from everything is just what the doctor prescribed. Literally. (His therapist thought it would be a good idea, since he’s come so far since… well. He’s come a pretty long way.)

It feels a bit strange as Steven slips under the covers of the bed. It’s different from the motels and occasional hotels he’s slept in, since it actually belongs to someone else. Ironically, it reminds him of when he had to stay in Pink’s quarters. That whole experience felt unfamiliar in a familiar way. It’s… confusing, in a word. And hard to explain. (He tries not to dwell on that, as well.)

Anyway, he sets his alarm for 9:00 am. And then adds 9:15 as a backup. He’s supposed to be out of the room by two, so that shouldn’t be a problem, but he did want to look around the place before he hits the road again. Plus, something about waking up a reasonable time is “healthy,” or so his therapist says. Steven likes having a schedule, but it’s late nights like these that make him regret his established routine. Despite the occasional tiredness, though, he supposes it’s a lot better than sleeping until past noon. Sleeping for that long seems like it would make him more rested, but in actuality it just led to him being even more tired. Of course, the majority of times he’s slept late were in the aftermath of his failed (and very stupid) proposal. He was wasting the day anyway, so it didn’t make much of a difference at the time.

Well, whatever. He’s tired now, and certainly in a much better place than before, so it’s time for sleep. As Garnet said, he needs to be well rested. Well rested for what, he has no idea. He’s not sure if that was meant as an ominous warning or a simple reminder. Or both. It’s always hard to tell with her. It doesn’t really matter though, since it’s not long before Steven’s mind empties and he falls into a deep sleep.

His dreams are… weird.

-

_ He immediately knows it’s a dream because he’s felt this before.  _

_ Apparently, his dreams are a lot different from the “normal” kind. Apparently, they aren’t supposed to be as vivid. Apparently, they aren’t supposed to actually be real. _

_ Apparently, Steven’s not exactly normal. But he knew that, right? _

_ But this one… this one can’t be real. Because he’s never seen the creature in front of him before. It’s not even a gem, from what he can tell. _

_ “Heya, Pink!” _

_ (He tries not to flinch at the name.)  _

_ It’s a man, or at least, Steven thinks it looks like a man. The thing’s figure is constantly changing; swelling and contracting in disoriented manners that make it impossible to discern an outline. It’s pitch black wherever they are, a vast expanse of nothingness rolling infinitely in darker and darker layers.  _ _ “Didn’t expect to find myself back here so soon, so I’ll have to thank you for that!” The humanoid creature says, looking around.  _

_ It has a bright yellow aura, not dissimilar in appearance to Yellow Diamond’s. In terms of feeling, though, it’s completely different. Even a fair bit away from where the thing is standing, Steven feels the raw strength coming off its aura in forceful waves. It’s this that distinguishes whatever it is from the form it’s taken on. No human could hold such a power. _

_ “Who are you?” Steven asks, talking to what certainly must be a figment of his imagination. Sure, it looks real, and feels real, and encapsulates every sensation his previous real-life dreams have had- but it can’t be. _

_ “That’s for me to know and you to find out, my Diamond.” The thing utters sarcastically, and Steven takes a step back. _

_ Okay, whatever this is, it’s officially getting on his nerves. All the evidence points to this not being a normal nightmare (a twisted viewing of his most awful moments) since it’s so different and so vivid. But all the evidence also points to this being fake, because what type of entity even is this? Surely it can’t actually exist. It knows so much about him as well! Or at least about his mom. It has to be coming from somewhere in his subconscious, Steven decides. _

_ “Leave me alone.” Steven growls, trying to summon his shield. It doesn’t work. Not even a flicker of pink flashes along his arm. Just… nothing. He’s powerless, here. _

_ “You know, we’re not so different, you and I, Pink. Mindscapes, taking over bodies and the like… Hurting people, tearing apart families, shattering their life forces- the whole shabang. I’d have to say I’m impressed, kid!” _

_ Well, maybe it is some sort of perverted night terror. Maybe his mind just decided to step up the game. Because, you know, he can’t just have it easy. That would be too good to be true. _

_ “Not a talkative one, hm? That’s okay, I’ll talk enough for the both of us, Pink.” Steven can’t tell, but he thinks he catches a glimmer of a smile on the creature’s face. “I wanted to give you a special welcome to Gravity Falls. And I wanted to thank you, of course.” The thing winks. _

_ “What do you want!” Steven screams, fed up with whatever this is. Please, please let him wake up. It’s not even that bad relative to actual nightmares he’s had (though reminders of the terrible things he did are never great), but it’s just… weird. And uncomfortable. Extremely so. _

_ “Wish I could tell ya, Pinky.” It says, but through its tone Steven can tell that it very much doesn’t wish to tell him. “But I’m not really one to bow down to authority, even the intergalactic kind.” _

_ “I’m not-” Steven starts, but is interrupted by the creature speaking frantically, as if in a rush. _

_ “Uh oh, looks like you’re waking up! Don’t know where, don’t know when- but we’ll meet again, Pink! Toodles!” _

_ - _

Steven wakes up to his alarm blasting “Sadie Killer and the Suspects.” He searches for his phone under the pillow, his sleep-ridden brain forgetting he left it by the outlet to charge overnight. Eventually, he realizes this, and moves to turn off the deafening music. (It’s probably not  _ that _ loud, but cut him some slack- he just woke up.)

Having gotten out of the bed already, Steven decides it’s useless to try and sleep for another fifteen minutes. Even though he’s exhausted for some reason- at least, more than usual- he taps the switch to turn his 9:15 alarm off.

Suddenly, as he’s standing up with his phone in hand, Steven remembers bits and pieces from his… dream? Or whatever that was. He hasn’t had any bad nightmares for a whole month, so it’s strange that he would have had such a vivid and lucid one now. Though, in those, he’s never aware that it’s a nightmare. 

Okie dokie. He has stuff to do right now, so no time to think about that weird and concerning thing that just happened when he was sleeping. Besides, his therapist is meeting with him over the phone at two, so if the topic comes up, he’ll be able to discuss it. Hopefully, he’ll be able to find a nearby motel now that the storm is over. The power should be back on, too, right? Soos said something about a generator at the Mystery Shack, so having power here doesn’t necessarily mean anything in relation to the whole town. He’ll have to ask about it. The only time the power went out in Beach City (at least when he was living with the gems, and not in his dad’s van where he wouldn’t be able to tell anyway) was when Pearl’s contraption knocked it out. Suffice to say, Steven’s not exactly an expert on storm power outages.

Well, there’s no time like the present! He should head downstairs and also probably head into his van for a change of clothes. Because he slept in the slightly damp shirt and jeans he came into this place with. Steven was tired enough that it didn’t really bother him, though.

-

When Dipper and Mabel head downstairs to help set up, the man from last night- Steven- is already up and talking to Soos. The twins manage to catch the last bits of conversation.

“-So you’re sure there’s no place I can stay the night? Not even a bed and breakfast?”

Soos looks apologetic as he responds to Steven. “Yeah, sorry dude. There was the Twin Bed Motel, but that closed down a few years back. Nobody in town thought we really needed another one. Most of the foot traffic is just visitors for the day, and everyone else already lives here.”

Steven mutters something under his breath that Dipper and Mabel can’t quite make out. The teenager looks upset, so Mabel decides to speak up. “Did I hear twins!”

“Oh, hey dudes! I was just talking about that old motel that shut down. Actually, I think it closed right before you guys’ first summer here.” Soos says, turning to the pair.

“You need a place to stay, Steven?” Dipper asks.

Steven looks at the younger boy and gives a small shrug. “I mean, it would be nice. All I know is that I need to be somewhere with wifi at two this afternoon. And you said your… ‘grunkle?’ Would be here around that time, right?”

Dipper nods, then corrects him. “Well, yeah. Our Grunkle Stan and Ford are both coming.”

The older teen looks slightly confused. “I’m sorry, did you say Stanford? Or Stan  _ and _ Ford?” He asks.

Mable interjects into the conversation. “Stan and Ford. Ford and Stan! The second-best twin duo ever to live! After yours truly.” She fans her hands out in front of her like she’s presenting herself.

“Oh, that must be nice to have two… grunkles? I’m sorry, is that like a grandpa uncle? I swear I’ve heard something like that before…” Steven trails off in thought, and Dipper takes it upon himself to answer.

“No, it’s short for ‘great’ and ‘uncle.’ Grunkle.” Dipper shrugs. “It sure makes things easier, especially since there’s two of them.”

Mabel groans. “Imagine having to say ‘Hey! Great Uncle Stan and Great Uncle Ford. Can you both come here please?’” She shakes her head and looks up to the sky, raising her hands in exasperation. “Ugh, the audacity!”

Dipper watches Steven’s expression, and notes that he seems to be enjoying the conversation. Dipper kind of is, too. It’s cool to be able to talk about his family to someone new, since everyone here knows everything  _ there is _ to know about them by now. It’s a small town. Plus, Steven is actually pretty nice. And doesn’t look like he’s faking it just for the sake of small talk. He’s genuinely interested. 

Steven seems to realize something and his face lights up. “I have an uncle, too! Well, not a great uncle. And  _ technically _ , he’s my first cousin once removed, but still. I haven’t seen him in a while though…” The boy’s expression falls slightly as he continues speaking, and Mabel tries to cheer him up.

“Well! If you wanna meet our Grunkles, you can stay a little longer!”

Steven immediately responds, saying, “No, no, no. I really don’t want to intrude on your time together! Plus I have a meeting. Oh! Which reminds me…” He glances as his phone quickly before looking up at Soos and the twins. “Are there any spots in the town here that have decent wifi? I already picked up a map of the place here.” He points to a small shelf in the gift shop with a few stacks of maps for tourists.

Soos thinks for a moment. “Well, I think the arcade and the shops nearby have free wifi.” He leans over to where Steven has opened the map, and shows him the spot. “Seriously though, Steven, you can stay here if you want. I’m sure the Mr. Pines wouldn’t mind an extra guest for their little welcome party.”

“No, really, I’m good. But thank you a lot, that’s really nice.”

Dipper’s a bit confused as to why the guy’s so adamant on not staying here any longer. He has an appointment at two, right? And it’s… Dipper glances at a clock on the wall… It’s barely ten in the morning. Does he have to be somewhere else sooner than two? But Steven  _ was _ looking for a place to stay… Maybe he’s just nice enough that he legitimately doesn’t want to intrude on their family time. Who’d have thought? 

It seems too suspicious.

But Dipper also realizes he’s the king of overanalyzing, second only to Ford. So maybe he’s just being paranoid. (It’s hard  _ not _ to be when you’ve been tricked before-)

“I’m, uh, gonna head out, I guess. I wish I could stay and see this place as an attraction, but you said you’re closed for the day? Right, Soos?” 

“Yeah, dude. Family time is more important, even though Mr. Pines would beg to differ.”

“Pines…?” Steven asks.

“Oh, yeah, that’s our last name!” Mabel responds happily. 

“Wow, that’s pretty fitting, living in a place like this.” 

“Well, just for the summer. We live in California for the rest of the year.” Dipper adds.

Steven perks up at that. “Oh, California? I was just there! It’s so pretty!” He checks his phone again, which Dipper thinks is a habit of Steven’s, judging from how frequently he’s done it. “But there’s not as many pine trees in California as there are in Oregon, I’m guessing. So it’s only fitting while you’re here.” He laughs, then adds, “My last name is kinda like that.”

Everyone looks at him expectantly. Steven blushes. “Oh, um, it’s Universe! Steven Universe.”

What a strange, strange kid, this Steven Universe is. But to be fair, Dipper figures he and Mabel are also pretty weird. Everyone here is the farthest you can get from normal, which is part of the reason he loves Gravity Falls so much. But Steven’s a different type of weird that he’s never seen before. Not in a bad way, like… previous things have been, but… certainly not “normal.” (Also, what the heck type of name is “Universe?” Sounds like something made up.)

It’s not really their place to judge, though, because who knows what type of history Steven has behind him? He seemed really happy that he had someone to call uncle, so maybe he lost a lot of family members. Besides, he’s going to be leaving town pretty soon, from what he’s been saying. There isn’t a motel within miles, so it’s kind of an all or nothing thing when visiting Gravity Falls. 

Mabel surprises everyone when she blurts out “We have an extra room here! If you need a place to stay! Also, Universe is such a cool last name!” She turns to Dipper, who’s still a bit stunned by the first part. “Do you think we could change our last name? That would be awesome. How does ‘Dipper and Mabel Sparkles’ sound?”

“Mabel, why are you offering this guy a room?” He hisses at her. “This better not be because you like him, since you promised me you didn’t.”

Steven gives an awkward laugh, and it’s Dipper’s turn to blush, since the older teen definitely heard that. “Dipper, don’t worry. I’m gonna be outta here pretty soon, most likely.”

“I, uh, didn’t mean it like that!” He sees Steven’s doubtful expression and tries to reassure him. “Really!”

The older boy shakes his head and gives a small smile. “Really, Dipper, it’s fine! I wouldn’t want some stranger just staying in my house. Besides, that’s happened like a few times before to me, and even though it worked out in the end, I really don’t like people taking over my bathroom.”

“Well,” Mabel starts, walking up to where Steven is standing, “I’ll give you my number in a totally not romantically inclined way.” She looks at Dipper while she emphasizes how  _ unromantic _ and  _ platonic _ she’s being. “So you can call us if you change your mind.”

“Oh, uh, sure!” Steven responds, like he even had a choice in the matter. Once Mabel sets her mind to something, she’s going to do it.

As Steven unlocks his phone, Mabel doesn’t necessarily  _ try _ to look at his lockscreen, but she does see it. His background is of a girl who looks to be around the same age as Steven. She has tan skin and dark, wavy hair that reaches just past her shoulders. In the picture, she’s smiling and holding up a peace sign, while Steven stands next to her and plants a kiss on her cheek. So, probably a girlfriend, which is absolutely okay, since Mabel wasn’t interested in Steven anyway. Obviously.

Steven pulls up his contacts and hands the phone to Mabel so she can put her number in, oblivious to her peeking. Not wanting to invade even more privacy, she doesn’t look at his contacts. Intentionally. But they’re just open and in sight, so she catches a glimpse of a few of the names before she enters her own. 

There’s… not many, at least judging from the beginning of the alphabet. There’s only two “A” names: “Amethyst” and “Andy Demayo.” The “B”s aren’t much better; There’s three people listed as “Barbara Miller,” “Bismuth,” and “Buck Dewey.” She feels a little bit better forcing Steven to have her contact information, since he doesn’t seem like he has many friends. Maybe that’s an unfair judgment, since he could have a lot of friends without phones (which would be strange in this day and age) or maybe a lot of his friends just have names starting with “Z”s, or... something. Well, regardless, more friends can never hurt! 

Mabel enters her own number (with lots of emojis, obviously), and hands the phone back. “There you go, Steven!”

“I- uh, thanks Mabel. I don’t know if I’ll call you about staying here, but I guess if I have any questions about the town, I can ask you?”

“Course! I’m chock full of knowledge!” Dipper shakes his head and puts a hand over his face as Mabel responds.

Steven glances apprehensively at his phone. “I should be going! I don’t want to bother you guys longer than I need to, ha ha. Thank you again for your hospitality.” He finishes, looking at everyone.

“Bye, dude. Come back any time.” Soos says, and the twins wave him goodbye. 

Steven exits through the door, and the twins watch as he makes his way across the driveway and climbs into his van. 

Dipper turns to Mabel. “He seemed in kind of a hurry, don’t you think?”

-

So, that whole thing… Whew. Steven can usually handle conversation, but that one. Wow. The combination of Mabel’s enthusiasm, everyone’s friendliness, and Steven’s own exhaustion made that… a lot to handle. He feels bad about sort of forcing his way out the conversation, but he was starting to get pretty anxious. And his therapist said excusing himself from stressful situations is an appropriate thing to do, so there! He’s still a little guilty over being rude, but he sits in his car and breathes for a few seconds. It helps calm him down a bit.

“Okay, let’s check out where the arcade is.” Steven says to himself eventually, after his anxiety had mostly dulled down.

There’s no service in the woods, so he can’t just have his phone’s GPS guide him. Looks like he’s doing this the good ol’ fashion way: a map. He scans the paper in his hands. The main part of town isn’t far from where he is right now- just a few roads down. Actually, the town itself is pretty small. And it has an arcade! Not many places have those anymore, he’s found out on his road trip.

He turns the key in the ignition and backs out of his parking space. Steven moves to turn his music on, but decides against it, and opens his window instead to let fresh air in. It’s a pretty short ride, anyway, and he wants to focus on not getting lost this time.

It’s not long before he sees the telltale signs of a town. Many small buildings come into view, and the trees start to become more sparse. Looking at the whole place, it kind of reminds him of Beach City. Minus the beach, obviously, since he’s in the middle of Oregon. 

There’s not a lot of shops compared to many big cities he’s been to, but all the places are cool looking. Like there’s an American dinner (which everyone loves), a library, a museum, and even laser tag! He spots the arcade and pulls into an empty spot. The front of the building even has one of those mechanical ride things they have outside the Beach City Arcade! How could anyone just come to this town for a day, like Soos had suggested?

He finds himself wanting to stay a little longer. So he can see all this town has to offer, you know? It’s just so… interesting. There’s something about it that draws him in.

  
Sleeping in the Dondai isn’t  _ that _ bad, is it?


	3. The Case of the Lost Charger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> asndknwjndkjen thank you all so much! it's crazy amazing the support i'm getting on this fic!  
> sorry this chapter is coming out a little later than expected, but i'm planning to update more frequently. along with that, chapters are going to be only slightly shorter (probably not even noticeably so) just so it makes it easier for me to post stuff on time lol
> 
> as always, thank you, and comments and kudos are very much appreciated! hope you enjoy :)
> 
> we're finally getting into things now!

Of  _ course _ he lost his phone charger. You know, the  _ one  _ thing he brought into the Mystery Shack for the night. It’s probably still sitting there, plugged into the outlet near the bed. 

Ugh, now he’ll have to go back there, and that’s going to be a whole awkward conversation. He  _ could _ just buy a new one, but even with all the exciting (and somewhat familiar feeling) places in Gravity Falls, he hasn’t spotted a drug store or something similar. And plus, even if he did, those things are stupid expensive. He has the money, obviously (perks of having a millionaire dad), but it just makes more sense to eventually head back to the Mystery Shack, because he knows where it is already, and it’ll be a quick in and out. 

For now though, he has to just pray his phone won’t die. Which shouldn’t be a problem, since it’s almost fully charged at the moment, but who knows with these things? Maybe he’s more stressed out about this than he should be, but… c’mon. One thing. He had  _ one thing _ to take with him, and he forgot it.

Well, he’ll go back to the Mystery Shack a little bit later. He just had his online therapy appointment (which was surprisingly light, although a little bit anxiety-inducing- perhaps why he’s so on edge) and the Pines family was apparently reuniting when he started the call. Didn’t Peridot say she was going to call today? Maybe if Steven calls her now, he won’t have to worry about her calling him out of the blue. Besides, he wants to explore the town a bit today, and the arcade looks really enticing. If he gets hooked on a game, as much as he loves Peridot, he doesn’t want to lose because he has to pick up his phone. 

So, calling Peridot it is! He goes onto video chat and calls her phone (which most gems have nowadays, so he’s happy communication between everyone is getting a  _ lot  _ easier), and he also checks to make sure there isn’t a parking meter nearby. He doesn’t want to get a ticket for overstaying his welcome in this spot. It was bad enough when he first got on the road and didn’t even know there were restrictions for that type of thing. (Oh the many, many slips of paper he’s collected over the past few months.)

Peridot is… well, Peridot. She squeals his name as soon as she pops up on screen, and proceeds to pull out another diagram for whatever Camp Pining Hearts topic they’ll be discussing today. This one has a plethora of colors, and a few of the camp members' faces plastered on.

In all honesty, Steven hadn’t exactly been wanting to think about the show. At all. After the whole dream thing, he really needed a break from it. Thankfully, Peridot completely understood. It kind of made them closer, in a way. At the time, it barely scratched the surface of his issues, but the green gem definitely got a clear picture when… he had his meltdown.

But now, Peridot’s gone back to analyzing  _ all _ the little details throughout  _ all _ of the episodes and every single piece of canon content she could get her hands on. It was actually Steven’s- not suggestion- but  _ encouragement  _ to talk about the show once again. Mostly about how it’s a complete piece of trash, but that’s besides the point. He felt ready, and it’s something they both enjoy, so it wasn’t really a cause for concern.

He’s happy to let Peridot ramble on about how the fifth season  _ completely fails  _ to connect even the slightest bit with anything beforehand, and how all the character development has disappeared, and that the pairings don’t make sense, and that-

Well, the list is infinite, according to Peridot. Probably why after all the times they’ve talked about it- back in Beach City or on the road- there’s still another reason that season five is garbage. Which, Steven totally agrees with! Even if the charts Peridot makes are a bit too complex for him to follow, especially over video chat.

And for a moment, a brief, fleeting moment, he considers the possibility of telling Peridot about his weird dream last night. Because obviously she has experience with Steven’s weird dreams. But the thought quickly leaves his mind. There’s no reason to discuss the frankly  _ very _ weird dream with Peridot, because, well, it’s not her problem, for starters. Along with that, the dream wasn’t even that bad. (He forgot to bring it up with his therapist, but it wasn’t really related to the discussion they were having. It’s fine though.) Besides! Peridot is so happy to see him, and Steven himself is in a relatively good mood right now, so there’s no reason to dwell on the little stuff. Especially something as harmless as a strange  _ dream _ . He wouldn't even consider it a nightmare! Just some strange, yellow aura surrounded by darkness taunting him. And it sounds ominous when phrased like that, but it really wasn’t. It’s fine. Really.

When Steven checks the time, it’s a lot later than he would’ve expected. He tells Peridot he has to go (after he promises to meet with her again some time next week, of course), because it’s… 5:04 pm. Which means he was talking to Peridot for a little over two hours. Which, admittedly, is a rather long time to talk about a show (especially one they’ve discussed so much already), but it’s not like it was the only thing they talked about! 

Alright, it was mainly the only thing they talked about, but seriously. He and Peridot could probably -no, definitely- fill up an entire library with everything wrong with Camp Pining Hearts season five. Because it sucked ass. (And yes, while Pearl may not appreciate him cursing, there’s nothing wrong with doing it inside his head.)

And, great. He’s been using his phone the whole time obviously, so now the battery’s a lot lower than he would like. Resting at a measly 37%. Steven guesses the arcade will have to wait. It should have been long enough now that he can go back to the Mystery Shack without interrupting something, hopefully. Because, you know, it’s been three hours since Ford and Stan (Those are the names, right? It’s a lot harder to remember when they aren’t based on rocks.) were supposed to return. With a whopping  _ two _ of those hours being spent dissing Camp Pining Hearts season five. Which Steven will reiterate: sucked ass.

Oh well, time to head back. He’s pretty sure he doesn’t need the map again, since the road was fairly straight-foward, but he keeps it open on the passenger seat just in case.

-

Dipper and Mabel are sitting in the living room with their Grunkles when there’s a knock at the door. Which is strange, considering that the shack is closed and also nobody in this town is really the type to knock. They also aren’t expecting any visitors that the twins know of; Mabel was just going to video chat with Grenda and Candy tonight, then meet up with them in person tomorrow, while Dipper went off to hang with Wendy. She’s leaving for college soon, so he has to get in as much time with her as he can (purely platonic time, of course). Plus, he has to give Wendy her hat back. It became a kind of tradition for them to swap hats for the rest of the year, and return them during the summer. 

“I’ll get it!” Mabel says quickly, springing up from the floor as Grunkle Stan shakes his head.

“I swear, you kids are supposed to have less energy as you get older!” 

Dipper shrugs. “Well, it’s Mabel. You know, the person almost destroyed the house during a sugar rush.”

Everyone in the room trembles at last summer’s memory. It was a truly terrifying day.

Mabel squeals loudly from the other room, shouting “Steven!” She quickly drags him into the room.

The teenager looks a little hesitant being pushed into a room filled with half-strangers and complete strangers, but Mabel seems completely oblivious to this.

“Do we… know this child?” Ford asks, leaning over to where Stan is sitting. He shrugs.

“I-” Steven starts, but is interrupted.

Something clicks for Stan.

“Ah! You must be here for the job, kid! You got a real go-gettem attitude, and I can appreciate that. ‘Specially since interviews weren’t supposed to start until tomorrow.” Stan comments, rubbing his chin.

“No, I, um.” Steven replies, but gets tripped up on his words, staring at the older pair of twins. He gets slightly distracted. “Are you guys twins?” He turns to Dipper, who’s sitting on the floor near the tv. “Oh right, You said your… grunkles...? Were twins, right?”

Stan looks at Dipper. “You know this kid?” He faces Steven once more. “I see your game! Trying to form connections so that you can get in good with the owners of the place. Respectable.”

Steven fiddles with his hands as he tries to respond to Stan. “No, I actually just left my charger here, and, um, was wondering if I could go get it?”

“False pretenses! Why would your charger be here?” Stan huffs and leans toward Ford, whispering, “I like this kid already, he has a good, deceitful attitude.” While the latter just rolls his eyes.

Dipper and Mabel join in on the conversation. “Steven slept over here last night.”

“Yeah, there was a thunderstorm!”

Stan groans. “Ugh, you got the kids to play along, too! Fine! Just take the job!”

Steven frantically shakes his head back and forth, and Dipper doesn’t blame him. It’s not everyday that some random guy offers you a job you didn’t want or know existed. And so quickly! “No, no, really, Mr. Pines. I appreciate the offer, but I honestly just came here to get my charger! As Dipper and Mabel said, I really did sleep over here last night. I promise it wasn’t my intention, but they insisted because the storm was so bad the power went out. I was just gonna ask for directions, but...um… Soos?” Steven’s voice lilts as he tries to remember the name, “Soos told me I should stay.”

Ford shoots Stan a look that the latter pointedly ignores. Either this “Steven” kid is a super good liar, or he’s actually telling the truth. God, he’s going to have to speak with Soos about letting people stay in the shack that aren't family. The kid seems nice enough though, anyway. There’s something strange about Steven for sure, that much is clear, but there’s always something strange in Gravity Falls. That’s just how the town works.

“Okay, okay, I believe ya, kid.” Stan says, waving his hands slightly in a gesture to calm the boy down. “Which room did you stay in?”

“Oh, um, I’m not sure, exactly? It was just up the stairs-”

Mabel interrupts cheerfully. “Grunkle Stan, he stayed in your room!”

“What!” He shouts dramatically, and only feels slightly guilty when Steven panics even more.

“I-I didn’t know! I swear Mr. Pines, I didn’t intend on staying at all!” Steven grabs his hair, the thick curls intertwined between his fingers. 

“Relax, kid, I’m just givin’ you grief!”

The teenager seems to calm down a little bit, but still seems tense. He apologizes, for some reason. “I’m really sorry, I’ve just been a bit on edge today, is all. I’m just gonna go grab my charger, and be on my way, if that’s okay?”

Stan is about to speak, but thankfully Ford interrupts him. “Yes, that’s perfectly fine. I trust you know your way to the room?”

Steven nods his head yes, and heads upstairs.

Once he’s (hopefully) out of earshot, Stan starts, saying, “There’s something off about that kid.”

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel chastises, “That’s rude!”

Dipper looks towards his sister. “Yeah, but Mabel, you know it too.” He half-whispers, “He’s… He’s... “ Dipper throws his hands up as he fails to find a word. “You know!”

“Dipper, you’re right.” Ford chimes in, “Obviously we can’t be certain, but there’s definitely something strange about him. It’s more of a feeling, than anything. But since we don’t have any tangible proof, I can’t be sure.”

“You guys are being mean!” Mabel pouts, crossing her arms. “Steven is nice.”

“No, Mabel, he’s definitely nice!” Dipper says, agreeing with his twin. “But… don’t you get this ‘feeling’ around him? You said it yourself.”

“He didn’t have that many contacts…” Mabel mumbles to herself. “Which is only strange since he’s such a nice guy. You’d think he’d have tons of friends!” She faces everyone in the room. “But guys, he’s really nice! He doesn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“No one is saying that, Mabel” Dipper replies, quick to reassure her. “He is really nice. Strangely nice, but that’s beside the point. I like him too. But you have to admit, he gives off a kinda weird feeling.”

Mabel shrugs, “I guess.” Suddenly, though, she perks up and looks at both her grunkles. “Isn’t there supposed to be another storm tonight! It’s getting late, we should let Steven stay here again!”

Everyone else in the room shares a look. Sure, it was fine for one night, but Steven seemed so insistent that he didn’t want to stay. Not because he didn’t like the place (since he really looked like he enjoyed it), but because… Well, Dipper’s not sure. But regardless, Steven seemed hesitant to intrude, even without Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford being here.

“Pwease…” Mable begs, and Dipper groans at her saccharine voice.

“Stop with the puppy-dog eyes, Mabel!” Grunkle Stan says dramatically, holding a hand to his eyes to try and block the power, “It’s my only weakness!”

Dipper grumbles, then jokingly says, “That, and the authorities.”

“Hey! You know sure well that I am capable of handling myself against cops!” He grabs Dipper’s arm and pulls the boy to him. “Come here, you brat!” Stan says, and starts playfully nuggying the young boy’s head.

Steven comes down the steps suddenly, charger in hand. Mabel catches him smiling at the antics of Dipper and Grunkle Stan. “I uh, thank you guys. Mr. Pines and um, Mr. Pines.” Steven glances towards Stan and Ford, respectively. “I better get going now. I think I’m going to head to Washington.”

Hm, the kid’s going out of state? That does seem a little far, especially if what Mabel said about another storm hitting is true. Now, Stan is certainly not growing soft, but he’s very inclined to give Steven a place to stay the night. Not because he’s being kind! Just so the teenager doesn’t die in a fiery car crash that gets traced back to the Mystery Shack, obviously.

Stan shares a silent look with Ford, and stops Steven from leaving. “Wait, kid. How about you stay the night? How much did Soos charge ya yesterday?”

Steven blushes slightly as he turns to face the family once again. “He, um, didn’t charge me anything?” He says, more of a question than a statement. “I offered to pay, really.”

Dipper catches Stan grumbling something to himself, likely swearing to get revenge on the new Mr. Mystery. “Well, since I’m a decent businessman, I’ll cut you an offer. Hows about you work here, since the Mystery Twins already like you, and you’re apparently all buddy-buddy with Soos already. Plus, I’m still half convinced you left your charger here on purpose so you could come in and snag the job like this, which I can’t believe I’m falling for.”

Steven quickly cuts in. “Really, Mr. Pines, I really did forget my charger. I’m sorry if-”

Stan interrupts before the kid can finish his unneeded apology. “That’s not important. Terms are, you work here, you stay here. Room is provided, board is not. I may be rusty at negotiating, but I’m not stupid. I’m sure you can fend for yourself.”

Dipper and Mabel glance at each other. Neither one of them was expecting this, but having Steven around would be nice, since he’s so, well... nice. Plus, they could find out what’s causing the strange feeling of weirdness around Steven. Double plus, they don’t have to deal with Grunkle Stan picking some random and Grunkle Ford scaring them off. The only problem is Steven clearly said he was going to head out tonight, and he doesn’t seem to want to stick around that much longer.

“Really, Mr Pines, I did plan on heading out tonight, and I don’t need a job.”

“Nonsense, I’ll counter both those points:” Stan says cheerily, putting on his business mask, “Number one, it’s going to storm again tonight according to Mabel, so I don’t want to have the guilt of you crashing your car and dying on my back. And two, every young person needs a job at some point! Tell me kid, have you ever had one before?”

Steven rubs the back of his neck and looks a little conflicted. “I mean, I guess  _ technically _ , I haven’t, but-”

“Well, there you go! You’re hired. Go grab your stuff and bring it in.” Stans says, standing up and pushing Steven towards his van. 

“Wait just a minute, Stanley. The spare room isn’t exactly… set up.” Ford starts, “Also,” He hisses to his brother, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Of course! Steven, you don’t mind sleeping on this chair tonight, right? It’s only slightly falling apart and tearing at the seams.”

“Well, I guess that’s better than sleeping in a van.” Steven says, and Dipper notes that after the words leave his mouth, the boy looks like he wants to face palm.

“There you go! Just grab what you need, and I promise you’ll be treated well here, in Casa de Stan!”

Steven is pushed out the door, charger held tightly in his grasp. He looks back at the door of the Mystery Shack for a second, then turns around and pulls out his phone. He takes a moment to catch his breath after all that excitement.

“Connie, you will never believe what just happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> steeb: i lost my charger
> 
> stan: alright, alright! the job is yours!


	4. Yes, I'm in a gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh im so sorry this took so long it's almost been a month! i swear i didn't mean to wait this long to update!
> 
> my school officially ended last friday and i was given like, a massive amount of work for some reason so i was busy doing that and everything else related to end of year activities. i promise that i'll try and get quicker updates, which should be easier now that everything's over with
> 
> anyway, the response on this has been crazy!! i'm so so glad people like it so far, and it means a lot to me when you guys tell me how in character everyone sounds! seriously, you guys are too nice and im so happy that people are interesting in this story.
> 
> as always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! you guys are crazy and i love you :)

“You what?!” Connie all but screams over the phone. “Steven, you can’t be serious, you don’t know who these people are!”

“Trust me, I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise! I even told him that I was going to drive to Washington, even though I was planning on staying in the town for a little longer.”

Steven can’t see her, but he knows Connie is shaking her head. Part of the reason he didn’t want to video chat right now. “Well, now you’re staying there a lot longer.” She sighs, and then says, “Steven, you know you don’t  _ have _ to do this, right?”

He takes a moment to think. Yes,  _ technically _ he can just march right into the Mystery Shack, loudly declare he’s not taking the job, and swiftly be on his way. Though, he’s not the type of person to do that, even if he  _ understands _ his own needs come before others (at least somewhat). If he  _ were _ to decline the job, he would explain himself, at the very least.

However, there’s just something… intriguing about this place. He can feel it, sort of. A buzzing energy that runs beneath the ground. Not in actuality, of course, but by feeling. Despite the town’s apparent normalcy, Steven can just tell there’s something big happening in Gravity Falls. He doesn’t know for sure if that’s a good or bad thing (as either way, he’s had enough excitement for several lifetimes within the first few years of his life), but there’s certainly something strange hidden behind the town’s very average exterior.

“Yeah, yeah, I know Connie. But they’re giving me a place to stay! And the town is just… interesting! I mean, what kind of town doesn’t have a motel?”

“That  _ is _ weird.” She murmurs. “But still, Steven, you-” Connie gasps over the phone, “You don’t even have paperwork! What if he asks for that! Or worse, what if he doesn’t care! Steven, this is really shady.”

“Uh, why would I need paperwork for a job?” 

He can almost hear Connie facepalm over the phone. “Steven-”

He cuts her off. “Listen, Connie, I really appreciate you looking out for me! But… I don’t know, I just have this gut feeling about this place. Plus, how am I ever going to get a job if I don’t know the basics? Sure, Little Homeschool was great and all for gems, but it’s nothing like human jobs.” He pauses and mutters to himself, “At least I think…?” then speaks louder once more. “But I’ll never know if I don’t find out!”

Connie hums in response, not entirely convinced. “I’ll be okay, Connie.” Steven says, trying to reassure her. “I promise. Like for real.”

There’s a brief silence on her end before Connie responds. “Hmm, okay. I mean, ultimately it’s up to you, Steven. I’ll support you if you wanna have the job.” He’s about to thank her, but she cuts him off. “-But! I’m coming to check the place out this weekend. I’ll take Lion.”

Steven smiles despite himself. “Why do you say it like it’s a punishment? I love seeing you, Connie!” He mushes. 

She splutters “I- wha-? Stop. Steven you’re too cute it’s giving me cavities. And you  _ know _ how much I brush my teeth.”

They both share a laugh, but Stan shouts at him from the house. Something about “lollygagging” and “second thoughts.” Steven turns towards the Mystery Shack to respond.

“Coming, Mr. Pines!” He leans into the phone again. “Sorry, Connie, gotta go!”

“Alright, bye Steven. Be careful.”

When he gets back into the Mystery Shack he’s carrying a few spare shirts and a pair of jeans. (There’s a lot of dirty laundry in the van. Who knew it would be so hard to find washing machines on the road? Steven didn’t.)

As he enters the living room area (or, at least, that’s what Steven assumes the place with the chair and tv is considered here), everyone’s basically in the same spot as he left them in. Stan (he thinks, but the twins look very similar so it’s hard to be sure) is the only exception, and is standing in the doorframe near the stairs. The man looks like he’s about to say something, but once he catches sight of Steven he changes thoughts.

“So what, kid, you have something against clothing variety?” He starts, looking pointedly at the piles of clothes in the teenager’s hands.

Steven blushes slightly, trying to think of a response, but is thankfully saved by Mabel of all people. “Like you’re one to talk, Grunkle Stan.” She stands up from her spot on the ground and looks around at everyone. “I’m the only one in this house with a decent fashion sense! I mean, at least I got Grunkle Ford to change the color of his turtlenecks!” Mabel says, pointing at the other twin. He sports a look of brief surprise on his face, but Steven swears it twists into a slight smugness. “Dipper here only just graduated from an orange shirt and navy vest.” She gestures to her twin with her thumb, and looks back at Steven. “Can you believe he wore nothing but that for the past three summers?”

Dipper, to his credit, looks only partially embarrassed in his dark blue flannel. “Mabel, I don’t think I’ve seen you wear anything other than sweaters. And it’s summer.” He retorts.

“First off, that’s so untrue. And secondly, even if I only wore sweaters- which is, again, untrue- they all are  _ different _ . So there.” Mabel finishes, holding a similar yet more pronounced smug expression as Ford (and Steven is able to see how they’re related), looking down at her own apparel for the day: a pink sweater with a shooting star.

“Tell me again how many times you’ve worn that sweater, Mabel?” Dipper asks rhetorically.

“You know it’s for the tradition!”

It’s Dipper’s turn to stand up and look at Steven. “She harps on  _ us _ about clothing, meanwhile she’s wearing the same outfit she wore the first day we got here.  _ Four _ years ago. And many subsequent days after that.” He glances at his twin for a second before turning back to Steven. “I’m honestly surprised it still fits.”

Mable makes a ‘hmph’ sound and glares at Dipper. Steven’s just happy he can tell she isn’t  _ really _ upset. Something between knowing Mabel for over a day and having to deal with everyone’s emotions (and his own) makes him able to tell. Her tone is mostly playful.

“I adjusted it.” She says eventually, holding out the bottom of her sweater, where Steven can see the faint remnants of a hand-sewn extension.

Wanting to break the sort-of-tension-but-not-really, the older teen interjects. “That’s actually pretty impressive. When I grew out of my clothes, I just got a different color, slightly larger, star shirt.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that. Are you in some kinda gang?” Steven must make a face at that because Stan is quick to clarify. “Not that I mind. I am very,  _ very _ hip with what’s down these days. Dawg.” The man finishes awkwardly, though he doesn’t seem the slightest bit embarrassed. 

Ford clears his throat, and joins the conversation. “Yes, actually, I was wondering that myself. Is there some sort of meaning behind the star? A brand, perhaps? Unless you  _ are _ in a gang, in which case-”   


Steven is quick to cut Ford off, not wanting to give the wrong impression (read: he’s a gang member going to kill them all in their sleep). “No, no, no! I, uh… It’s actually merch? Well, sort of.”

He huffs, trying to think of a way to explain his clothing choice without getting too deep into gem stuff. Not that he’s  _ never _ going to tell them he’s half gem (since he’s going to be working for them, and potentially living here, so it’s going to come out eventually), but it doesn't seem like the right time to dive into how he’s technically his mom, but not really because he’s his own person, and- yeah.

“My dad was a rockstar when he was younger, and before he ra- uh, fired his manager, he had a lot of merch. We weren’t exactly  _ poor _ when I was growing up, but we weren’t exactly loaded either. So I kinda just wore the smaller sized shirts he had. And it stuck, I guess, since even though we’ve run into some cash,” He pretends not to notice how Stan’s face almost lights up as he says it, “It’s kinda become our thing.  _ My _ thing.” He clarifies.

It’s, well. It’s not exactly the truth, but he’s not lying either. Steven just hopes they don’t-

“But why a star?”

-ask any questions. Oh well.

He turns to Ford, and starts to hope he’s never heard of Mr. Universe before. It’s unlikely, anyway, since his dad never got  _ big  _ big, only for the burger commercial. And it’s not like they gave explicit credits for the stupid jingle on tv. It’s not that he doesn’t want them to know his dad’s name and stuff, but his life is kind of crazy (even on his dad’s side, though significantly less so), and he doesn’t feel like explaining that right now. 

“Oh, his stage name was ‘Mr. Universe.’ He sang about stars and galaxies and comets and stuff. Space things. Hence the star.” He points down at his own black shirt, pushing his jacket out of the way so everyone in the room has a clear view of the golden star.

Dipper mutters something under his breath that Steven doesn’t catch, and then looks up. “Didn’t you say your last name was Universe? Was that fake, or…” He trails off, leaving Steven to explain.

Which, he’d rather not, since he only found out why less than a year ago, and then crashed his dad’s van, but oh well. Guess he doesn’t really have a choice if he wants this kid to stay on his good side, and further convince everyone that no, he’s not actually in a gang. Steven does have to admit, his life (even the most mundane aspects of it), does seem rather suspicious. 

He tries to hold a smile on his face, but it definitely looks forced. The wound is still too fresh. (And he understands, he  _ understands _ his dad’s reasoning. He understands now why his dad ran away. He understands why he changed their last name. Doesn’t mean he’s completely over it, though.)

“My dad had us change it. He was, uh,  _ inspired _ , but a certain Kerry Moonbeam song.” The name leaves a slightly bitter taste on his tongue, but it’s fine. He shouldn’t be upset about it. He shouldn’t be upset about it  _ still _ , after everything.

“Kerry Moonbeam, huh? I think I’ve heard of him before.” Stan comments, “Mr. Universe sounds kinda familiar, too. Where’d you say you were from, kid?”

“Delmarva.”

Stan hums in thought but doesn’t say anything else about the subject. Instead, he turns towards the stairs and says, “Well, I’ll leave you rascals be. Can’t let my old mind get  _ too _ corrupted by the youth. We know there’s enough that’s gone on in my head already.”

He says the last part like it’s some sort of inside joke that Steven clearly doesn’t understand. Or, maybe, he’s just god awful at human interaction and is missing something obvious. 

As Stan retreats to wherever he’s going, Ford stands up as well. “I guess I’ll leave you be as well.” He looks towards Steven specifically, a hint of warning glimmering in his eyes. “Dipper and Mabel know where everything in the house is, so ask them if you have any questions.

It only takes a few seconds after both Stan and Ford have left the room for Mabel to startle him. 

“Oh my god! We should have a slumber party!” 

Dipper groans, like this is something he’s heard many, many times before. “Mabel, you can’t just have a slumber party every time we meet someone new.”

Still sort of reeling from the last parts of the previous conversation, Steven tunes the twins out slightly as they start bickering. It’s playful, once again, so he doesn’t really have to worry. He can tell that they really care about each other, even if they fake annoyance at the other. 

Something about his “Same Shirt Policy” explanation rubbed him the wrong way. Don’t get him wrong, Steven loves his dad dearly, but… Well. Maybe he’s still a bit miffed about the whole family situation. He doesn’t have anyone to really place the blame on, which makes it harder to think about. Because even though he was hurt by his dad’s words, he knows the older man wasn’t necessarily in the wrong. He just had a different view of things. And Steven’s not even close to placing the blame on Greg’s parents, since he doesn’t even know them. He’s not about to make a judgement about people he’s never met, despite what his father tells him.

And maybe that’s a bit unfair, and maybe he should trust his dad’s word, and- he’s not  _ angry _ , because  _ angry _ wouldn’t be the right word- but he certainly feels some sort of way about Greg. He should probably bring it up with his therapist, but even though it’s been some time since their first meeting, there’s still a lot of unresolved  _ gem _ issues he needs to sort through. So maybe it’s best he puts this on the backburner, at least for now. It can’t cause him that much harm, right?

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when he hears his name.

“-but I don’t think Steven would mind.” Mabel turns to him, and he tries his best to act like he was listening. In the back of his mind, he remembers doing the same thing for many of Pearl’s lectures. “You wouldn’t mind, right Steven?”

Welp. He has no clue what they’re talking about, but he probably  _ doesn’t  _ mind anyway, so might as well make Mabel happy. “Nope.” He replies, popping the ‘p’ while he aims for nonchalance even though he is distinctly unaware of the conversation at hand. Fake it till you make it, right? (He knows that too well.)

He must have said the right thing in Mabel’s eyes, because her face instantly lights up. “Yes, sleepover!” She fist pumps in the air.

Dipper rolls his eyes fondly, then mutters to Steven. “I can’t believe you encouraged her. You’re in for way more glitter than you’ll know what to do with.”

He’s a little taken aback by the vague and slightly threatening statement, but Dipper doesn’t seem really concerned so Steven figures it’s fine.

Mabel must’ve heard her brother while she was having a one person celebration. “Dipper, just because I’m a woman of culture doesn’t mean I can’t break the rules. Steven’s probably tired, and Grunkle Stan would probably kill us if he woke up to glitter everywhere on the first day back, so I’ll hold off for tonight.” She says responsibly. “Besides, I’m saving it.”

“I can only imagine what that means. Please, Mabel, don’t prank me with it again.” Dipper starts, but his expression changes as he thinks of something. “But  _ do _ let me help you prank Grunkle Stan with it.”

They both laugh and Steven feels a  _ bit  _ awkward because it’s clear that these two siblings are close, and he’s kind of intruding on their relationship. Not that they seem to mind, but it’s just a little strange. For once in his life he’s waiting for someone else to take initiative on what to do; not because he wants to, but because he’s so out of his league on this one. It’s a sort of domesticity that’s just so  _ different _ from what he’s used to. Sure, he has his own friends and his own family, and has had dinner with the Maheswarans occasionally. But he’s never really been involved in a sibling type of relationship. There’s Kiki and Jenny, and Ronaldo and Peedee, but he wasn’t ever close enough to witness them interacting in their own house.

God, he needs to work on human interaction more. He’s just being weird at this point.

It’s silent for a brief few moments before Mabel decides to run up the stairs somewhere, shouting “Blankets!” with no real explanation.

“Mabel’s certainly… excitable.” Steven eventually says, trying to break the awkwardness.

“Yeah. One time when it was our first summer here, we were at this abandoned convenience store and she got super hyped up on ‘Smile Dip,’ which is basically pure sugar with extra sugar on top. I think you can imagine how that went.” Dipper grimaces.

Steven laughs, because  _ that  _ certainly must have been a crazy night. It seems like there’s more to the story, like why they were in the abandoned store in the first place, but he doesn’t push. 

Mabel comes bounding down the stairs with a resounding thud as she skips the bottom two steps. She trips slightly, but thankfully she’s wrapped in about five different blankets so she’s not hurt when she falls to the floor. Which, in a cruel twist of fate, was probably the blankets’ faults. Funny how the very thing that saved her was the very thing that she needed to be saved from in the first place.

“Ouch.” She murmurs, the sound muffled by the sheer amount of blanket in her face. She’s not hurt though, which is good, because then Steven would have to heal her, and he doesn't feel like explaining that whole thing right now.

There’s a distant shout from upstairs, likely belonging to Stan. “If you’re not dead, make less noise!”

Dipper goes over to where his sister is covered in blankets and helps her up with an extended hand. “Glad to see our caretakers for the summer care so much.” 

Mabel brushes herself off with a dignity unexpected from someone who just tripped on blankets down the stairs. “Oh shush. You know both our Grunkles care very much about us.”

And it’s true, or at least that what Steven thinks, because despite how indifferent their Grunkles sounded about the twins’ safety (especially Stan), he could tell by their attitude and the looks in their eyes that they do care a lot. Steven’s gotten used to recognizing the look on the gems’ faces. (And maybe there’s something to be said about how caring about someone doesn't always mean that they’ll be safe, doesn’t always mean that it’ll be enough- but that’s something he’d rather not dwell on.)

Mabel makes quick work of laying the blankets out in the living room, grumbling something to herself about how she could  _ totally  _ make an actual fort right now, and how it would be  _ super cool _ , but it’s getting late. Steven just chuckles and helps her and Dipper set up the blankets so they would be comfortable enough to sleep on, because apparently that’s a thing and they actually  _ are _ having a sleepover after all. Now, Steven’s not an expert on relationships-  _ human _ relationships- but he’s pretty sure this is a little early to be having sleepovers, since they just met. But then, he figures, that’s a bit of a hypocritical thought for him, since he’s done so much for people much more dangerous than himself. 

So maybe Dipper and Mabel (mostly Mabel) are being a bit  _ too  _ trusting of Steven right now. But he’s not really one to speak when he made nice with all the people who tried to kill him, after or while they were currently trying to kill him.

Well, whatever. He  _ is  _ getting tired anyway, because for some reason hanging out with this strange family takes a lot out of him. Plus, apparently he has a  _ job _ now, and he needs to be well rested for that most likely, so it wouldn’t hurt to get a good night’s sleep.

Steven settles himself into the chair while Dipper and Mabel lay on the floor. He figures if they really have a problem with it, they would easily be able to go up to their own room and sleep on their definitely more comfortable beds. Which they may be planning to do anyway, after it gets a bit later, so he doesn’t bring it up.

“Hmm, what to watch…” Mabel ponders, scrolling through the channel guide like it contains life’s biggest mysteries.

She flips through for a few minutes before something catches Dipper’s attention. “Ducktective reruns!”

And Steven has no clue what that show is, but it sounds interesting. Plus, the name’s a pun. Steven’s sure Bismuth bis _ misses  _ all his jokes. He laughs at his inner monologue. 

“Yes, yes!” Mabel replies, and they finally settle on a show as she switches the channel over. Mabel turns to Steven. “This show’s really good, and we watched it a lot our first summer when new episodes were actually coming out.”

Dipper chimes in. “Yeah, but the twist at the end kinda sucked. I mean, he had a twin brother the whole time? Ridiculous.”

The siblings laugh at that and Steven chuckles, not really getting why it’s funny since he’s never actually seen the show. It seems like a pretty good twist, but maybe the show just pulled it off badly? It doesn’t seem that important right now, since this is apparently one of the earlier episodes, Dipper tells him, so Steven pushes the thought away.

He pays attention, and the show  _ is  _ pretty funny and interesting, but he’s a little on the tired side, especially with the warmth from all the blankets encasing them. After the episode's credits roll, and the next one is about to start, he goes to tell the twins that he’s probably going to try to get some shuteye.

Apparently, though, they’re one step ahead of him, so Steven’s words die in his mouth. Mabel’s snoring (not loudly, but enough to be noticeable) and Dipper has a bit of drool coming from his mouth. And yes, while they’re only two years younger than him, Steven can’t deny that the sight is positively adorable. 

He snaps a quick picture with his phone and looks at it briefly before resting his head and closing his eyes. 

The picture of two twins huddled in their nest of blankets and sleeping peacefully- yup, definitely blackmail material.


	5. UPDATE (NO CHAPTER)

hey, so i usually don't do this, but i wanted to give a brief update on what i've been doing and why i haven't posted anything recently. essentially, it all boils down to the fact that i've just started college, and i've lost motivation for this fic.

that being said, however, i'm not done writing this! i have big plans for this and i definitely plan on finishing them! 

what i am going to do, though, is take an indefinite hiatus. i want to be writing something that i think is good, quality content, and i can't do that if my heart isn't fully into it, or i'm about to black out because i'm supppppperr tired. 

again, i'm really sorry that i'm putting this off, as it wasn't my intention, but i hope you guys can understand. 

side note: this "chapter" will be deleted when i post an update, just an fyi

anyways though, i have to say the support i've gotten for this fic is AMAZING (seriously, incredible and i can't believe it!) and i really hope to get back into this soon (though no promises). i'm sorry if this is annoying, but i just want to write stuff i can be proud of and i can't do that in my current mindset. hopefully, i'll be back to being obsessed with steven universe and gravity falls in no time :)

also ps i'm legally an adult as of yesterday so that's kind of cool

**Author's Note:**

> hey! do you like art?! do you maybe wanna check out my art?!
> 
> on my insta and tumblr, i draw a lot of steven universe stuff, and a lot of stuff for this crossover. maybe check it out if you're interested...?
> 
> insta: undertalefa - https://www.instagram.com/undertalefa/  
> tumblr: undertalefa - https://www.tumblr.com/blog/undertalefa


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